RIYADH (Saudi Arabia), Thursday, February 25: Lebanese driver Doumit Bou Doumit and Saudi Arabia’s Saeed Al-Mouri were the stars of the third Saudi Racing Festival at the Zain Reem International Circuit on Thursday afternoon.

Bou Doumit held off a fierce challenge from Abdullah Al-Dossari to claim victory in the Zain Lotus Cup Middle East race and the Saudi Radical Championship race victory fell to Saudi Arabia’s Saeed Al-Mouri, who duly completed a hat-trick of category wins this season at the Zain Reem circuit.

Doumit Bou Doumit set the fastest time in qualifying for the third Zain Lotus Cup race of the Zain Reem season, with the in-form Faher Al-Sharif of the Big Wheels Team down in seventh position on the grid after winning the opening two rounds of the series.

Bou Doumit and Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Al-Dossari became embroiled in a fascinating tussle for the overall lead through the opening five laps, but a big accident on the sixth lap brought proceedings to a standstill for around 10 minutes.

Both Saudi Oger Cup front-runner Mosaed Al-Khwayter and Abdullwahed Bin Yehia of the Big Wheels Team were involved in the crash, but neither driver was injured and the race action resumed with Al-Dossari heading Bou Doumit through lap seven.

The Lebanese managed to sneak through to take the lead and the eventual race win on the ninth tour of the Zain Reem circuit and Al-Dossari slipped to an eventual fourth position behind 16-year-old Prince Mohamed Bin Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohamed of the Bison Reem Team and race series newcomer Malcolm Addison of the Hala Racing Team, who finished third. Al-Sharif retired with mechanical problems after a disappointing day for the former series front-runner.

Al-Mouri was again the class of the Saudi Radical Championship field and held off a fierce penultimate lap challenge from Medhat Sheikh Al-Ard to clinch his third successive race win and victory in the 1.5-litre category. Faisal Bin Laden of the Bison Reem Team finished second overall and the Saudi’s team-mate Prince Saud Bin Turki claimed the final podium position and third place in the larger-engined category.

The RST Team’s Faisal Shaker finished fourth overall and was classified first of the 1.3-engined runners, with Jordanian championship debutant Faher Fatafeah and Saudi Arabia’s Khalil Minawi sealing second and third positions in the 1.3-litre class.

“It was another exciting day’s racing at Reem and we say a special thank you to officials and race marshals for their efforts during a hectic afternoon on the track,” said HRH Prince Sultan bin Bandar Al-Faisal, CEO of the Zain Reem international circuit.

The Saudi Speed Festival has received valuable backing from Zain, Saudi Oger, Toyota, Castrol, Bison energy drink and the Saudi Bin Laden Group of Companies, Al-Ghassan Motors and Saudi Radical.